Legal action is being taken by California patients suffering from HIV against a Bay Area company that is alleged to have peddled dangerous medication, while simultaneously suppressing a safer but less profitable alternative.
The company in question, Gilead Sciences Inc, manufactures both tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF, the drug heavily marketed) and enofovir alafenamide (TAF, the ‘safer’ drug). The lawsuit also alleges that Gilead failed to adequately warn patients of the adverse side effects as well as grossly misrepresented the risks and rewards of TDF.
The plaintiffs suffered from bone and kidney damage – side effects which are said to have been discovered as far back as 2001 in the company’s own internal research. The plaintiffs claim TDF is ‘…highly toxic in the doses prescribed and risked permanent and possibly fatal damage to the kidneys and bones’.
There are two legal pursuits being undertaken by the group of plaintiffs, one Personal Injury and the other Class Action. The lawsuits also claim that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) twice warned Gilead about it’s marketing practices.
Attorney Michelle M. Rutherford of Rutherford Law, representing the plaintiffs, stated they are bringing them forward “…because Gilead should be accountable for making misrepresentations about the significant side effects of its key HIV drug, TDF, while it shelved a safer alternative in TAF for many years simply to increase profits”.
The long-term profit scheme had to do with the duration that a company is permitted to hold exclusive patents for their formulations.
John Rosenbaum is an Orange County lawyer that has been serving the community for decades. Contact our offices today if you have any Workers Compensation or Personal Injury needs.
Write a comment: